What parents need to do

C ACCEPTANCE, PERSISTENCE, PATIENCE

Each month, the cost of sending their child to both preschool and early intervention center is about 8 million VND, so the expenses of Mr. Hoang (name has been changed), a resident of Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, have to be more frugal. Both husband and wife have to reduce their working hours and take turns taking their child to and from school. But now, despite the hardship, the couple has a more comfortable mentality when accepting that their child has a developmental disorder and accompanies the teachers at the center.

"Specialized teachers record videos of them playing with their children, teaching them activities so that parents can watch and play with their children at home. The most important thing I realized is that parents should accept their children, be patient, persevere, and love them a lot to accompany them," the father said.

"At first, we were very tormented, miserable, blaming ourselves and our relatives for not taking the best care of our child. But if we don't accept our child, who can reach out to him?", said Mr. Hoang. His son is now 28 months old, has just said his first words, and looks into his parents' eyes when he talks.

Children have been able to concentrate on playing with toys after a period of early intervention.

ACCEPT YOUR CHILD WITH ALL THEIR DIFFERENCES

Ms. Huynh Kim Khanh, who has 12 years of experience in special education and is currently a private teacher at Kindergarten 6, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, said that after hearing parents' complaints about their children's strange symptoms, teachers will observe, have the children conduct surveys, and advise parents to take their children to major hospitals for examination.

But there is an important problem: when a hospital (or many hospitals) diagnoses a child with developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, etc., up to 70% of parents do not accept that their child is like that.

"The common mentality is not to accept, they think that both themselves and their partner are healthy and successful, how can their child be like that. Or the wife or husband, or relatives... have the mentality of blaming the other person for not taking good care of and raising the child. But in reality, autism is congenital, autism does not have a complete, specific, clear cause. The more parents do not accept that their child has this syndrome, they do not let their child intervene early. The later the intervention, the more severe the child's condition becomes," said Ms. Khanh.

Ms. Khanh advises parents that when they see their children showing unusual signs, they should take them to reputable hospitals for examination. They need to accept their children with all their differences and accompany them. Early intervention helps children eliminate unwanted behaviors, helps them perceive the world around them more easily, can take care of themselves, express their needs, and improve their quality of life...

Ms. Huynh Kim Khanh said that no matter what center or school the child studies at, the education and companionship of parents also contributes greatly to the child's progress. Parents should not leave everything to the teachers. Every day, parents should spend a lot of time playing games, talking, and interacting with their children. They should accompany their children with patience and love. Reality shows that children who receive early intervention and are cared for and accompanied by their parents in home education have made significant progress after a period of time.

A preschooler receives early intervention.

PARENTS ARE THEIR CHILDREN'S GREATEST TEACHERS

Mr. Nguyen Minh Phung, Director of New Life Center for Psychological Counseling and Skill Development (Da Nang), said that his center is providing intervention support for many children with speech delay, difficulty concentrating, difficulty in communication, in learning, etc.

Among these, not all children have medical problems, not all children have autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Some children are simply slow to speak, have difficulty communicating and learn slower than their peers due to psychological factors, the influence of the surrounding living environment and many other factors...

These children receive 1-1 intervention with teachers, or there are also boarding intervention classes, for children to receive both group intervention and 1-1 intervention with teachers. Children are organized by experts with games and exercises in the form of games to develop listening, speaking, movement, communication, and group activities skills with friends and teachers.

"There are children who develop very quickly. Recently, there was a child who was 3 and a half years old when he entered the center but had not spoken yet. The doctor diagnosed that it was not due to a medical condition. The center conducted tests and gave the child a separate lesson plan to study with the teacher. After only 1.5 months, the child could speak a lot and loved to ask questions to parents and teachers. However, there are also children who need to be intervened for a long time and persistently for a long time, because they are older and have problems that require more intervention," said Mr. Minh Phung.

According to Mr. Minh Phung, in addition to parents always paying attention to their children's development, seeing if there are any abnormalities so that they can take them to reputable hospitals for examination and accepting their children's condition, parents also need to accompany them on their educational journey, supporting them to help them progress every day.

For children who are slow to speak, have difficulty concentrating and learning not due to illness, parents also need to be more patient and persistent with their children.

"Parents are their children's greatest teachers, accompanying them throughout their lives. After their children go to school, to the psychological counseling and skill development center, parents should spend more time taking their children out to play, play with them, talk more with them, and limit letting them watch TV or iPad for too long," said Nguyen Minh Phung.

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